[yasr_overall_rating]
February 12 is just another day in Sam’s charmed life until it turns out to be her last. Stuck reliving her last day over one inexplicable week, Sam untangles the mystery around her death and discovers everything she’s in danger of losing.
Based on the book written by Lauren Oliver, “Before I Fall” had all the promise of a well-told fable of making every moment in your life count. It had a wonderful message that everything we do and say matters. Unfortunately, it lacked originality, a well-written script, interesting editing, and actors that… well… acted. Zoey Deutch in the lead role had so little to work with, it made her character of Sam not at all interesting or three-dimensional. By the end of the movie, I had no empathy for her or any other character. None of which I actually remember their names. It was that bad.
I went into the movie theater hoping that “Before I Fall” would not add to the “Just another cheaply made teenage flick” pile of horribly produced movies that Hollywood churns out. Pre-release buzz made it to where I wasn’t expecting “The Breakfast Club,” “American Graffiti,” or even “Dead Poets Society.” I was, however, expecting more than what boiled down to an after-school special or poorly made Hallmark movie that never gets seen on a screen bigger than a living room TV.
There is not a lot of backstory offered about Sam, her three best friends that comprise the four “popular girls in school that torture others with their mean girl tactics. There is even less offered about their schoolmates that are the targets of their torture. This movie never produces anything on the screen that hasn’t been there 100 times before. Small snippets of who the girls are and what makes them tick occasionally get thrown out as Sam relives her last day on earth in “Groundhog Day” style. But not enough to make me see anything but overly-spoiled flat characters.
With as many times as Sam relives her last day, there should have been more variety in how she approached each day. More options that she tried, different outcomes, both good and bad. Although it was heartwarming to see one day spent with her little sister and family and another doing everything rebellious that she normally wouldn’t do, there were too many holes in her progression from spoiled white teenager to savvy conscientious compassionate young adult. The resolutions arrived at in each repeat ranged from ridiculous to meaningless.
I took my 16 and 10-year-old daughters with me to have input from different demographic perspectives. They both enjoyed the movie but also felt there was much of the story left untold. My younger daughter made the comment that it was intense but that she liked the message that everything we say and do matters. My 16-year-old was far less impressed, and like myself, halfway through the movie was more interested in the popcorn than in finding out if Sam “gets it right” and breaks out of her hellish time loop.
Seriously clichéd and tired scenarios make this a yawner that won’t be around long in the theaters. Not really sure why it’s there in the first place.
In theaters Friday, March 3rd
